Medical Waste Management

This program describes the procedures and methods for the management of medical, biohazard or pharmaceutical wastes.

I. Purpose/Scope

Purpose: The production of medical waste materials at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) creates a variety of potential safety and environmental compliance issues. The purpose of this Procedure is to ensure that applicable compliance issues are considered and addressed before storing and disposing of such material.

Scope: This procedure applies to all faculty, staff and students who generate medical waste materials that will be handled or stored on campus.

II. Definitions

Biohazard Bag: A disposable red bag that is impervious to moisture and has a strength sufficient to preclude ripping, tearing, or bursting under normal conditions of usage and handling of the waste-filled bag.

Cultures and stocks of infectious agents from research and industrial laboratories.

Human surgery specimens, tissues or animal parts, tissues, fluids, or carcasses suspected of being contaminated with infectious agents known to be contagious to humans.

Waste containing discarded materials contaminated with excretion, exudate, or secretions from humans or animals that are required to be isolated to protect others from highly communicable diseases or diseases of animals that are highly communicable to humans.

Waste which is hazardous only because it is comprised of human surgery specimens or tissues which have been fixed in formaldehyde or other fixatives, or only because the waste is contaminated through contact with, or having previously contained, chemotherapeutic agents, including, but not limited to, gloves, disposable gowns, towels, and intravenous solution bags and attached tubing which are empty.

Infectious agent: A type of microorganism, bacteria, mold, parasite, or virus, including, but not limited to, organisms managed as Biosafety Level II, III, or IV by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that normally causes, or significantly contributes to the cause of, increased morbidity or mortality of human beings.

Medical Waste: Biohazardous, sharps and trauma scene wastes and is defined as "waste which is generated or produced as a result of the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or in the production or testing of biologicals and may include infectious agents."

Pharmaceutical: A prescription or over-the-counter human or veterinary drug

RCRA Hazardous Waste: Wastes that exhibit certain characteristics regulated by RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act). A waste may be considered hazardous if it is ignitable (i.e., burns readily), corrosive, or reactive (e.g., explosive). Waste may also be considered hazardous if it contains certain amounts of toxic chemicals. In addition to these characteristic wastes, Hazardous waste takes many physical forms and may be solid, semi-solid, or even liquid.

Sharps Container: A rigid puncture-resistant container that, when sealed, is leak resistant and cannot be reopened without great difficulty.

Trauma Scene: A location soiled by, or contaminated with, human blood, human body fluids, or other residues from the scene of a serious human injury, illness, or death.

Treatment: Any method, technique, or process designed to change the biological character or composition of any medical waste so as to eliminate its potential for causing disease, as specified in Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 118215).

III. Facility Information

Facility Description: CSUN is a registered a large quantity generator (Registration #19-29) and is located at:

Waste Treatment: Our medical waste treatment contractor treats all medical waste off site. The Environmental Health and Safety Office maintain tracking documents for transport and treatment of medical waste for a minimum of three (3) years.

There is no onsite treatment of medical waste.

VI. Procedures

Student Health Center, Biology and Chemistry

Collection:

Medical waste is collected at the point of generation in rigid containers lined with red biohazard bags. The containers are labeled with the words "Biohazardous Waste" or "Biohazard" and the international biohazard symbol, such that the labels can be seen from all sides. Medical waste is segregated from other types of waste at the point of generation.

Sharps wastes are collected at the point of generation in "no cut" rigid walled, puncture resistant single use containers.

Transportation:

Medical Waste – Rigid containers with lids are used to transport Medical Waste to one of the approved Medical Waste Storage Areas. The biohazard bag is removed from the container and tied closed. The container is cleaned and sanitized if necessary, lined with a new red biohazard bag and returned to service.

Sharps containers –Full Sharps containers are closed securely and transported to one of the approved medical waste storage areas.

Storage:

There are two (2) approved medical waste storage areas. They are located at:

Student Health Center

Citrus Hall (Science 3), Room 3200A

The storage areas are secured (locked) except when waste is added or removed. The single door is marked with a sign that reads (in English and in Spanish)

The waste is stored inside heavy duty, covered, plastic containers until picked up by one of the approved medical waste management companies. Storage containers are supplied by the medical waste management company and are exchanged for clean sanitized containers after each waste pickup. The storage takes place at room temperature (approximately 68 - 77 F) and never exceeds seven (7) days in duration due to a prearranged, regular waste pick up schedule.

Collection & Segregation: Waste pharmaceuticals are segregated into three categories:

· Regularly packaged (manufacturer / distributor): These materials are managed by Reverse Distribution through the Student Health Center. Reverse Distribution is when unwanted pharmaceuticals are returned to the manufacturer for a credit or for those materials a manufacturer will not accept destroyed by thermal incineration.

· Open packages and individual doses: Pharmaceutical disposal program through the medical waste management company, whereby we are supplied with 2 gallon containers which we fill with unusable products. These containers are placed in the medical waste storage are picked up by the medical waste disposal company and destroyed by thermal incineration.

· Pharmaceutical chemicals: Waste pharmaceuticals chemicals are segregated into “RCRA hazardous” and non-hazardous wastes at the point of generation. RCRA hazardous waste is placed in a compatible container with a conforming label and the label is completed.

Storage: To avoid unauthorized access to waste pharmaceuticals chemicals during the accumulation process it is recommended that drugs be rendered unrecognizable or otherwise unmarketable by commingling, removal of doses from blister packs or vials, or by otherwise adulterating the drugs.

RCRA hazardous waste is disposed by calling the Environmental Health and Safety Office (X-2401) for disposal at intervals not to exceed 90 days.

Other waste pharmaceuticals can accumulate for up to one year if the generation rate is less than 10 pounds per year. If the generation rate exceeds 10 pounds per year the pickup interval is 90 days.

VII. Emergency Action Plan

Medical waste is stored only in secured labeled areas. Waste is then transported, treated and disposed by our medical waste management company. In the event that our primary medical waste management company (TCI) is incapable of transporting medical waste in a timely manner, our secondary medical waste management company (PSC) will provide these services.

In the event of a spill of bio-hazardous materials, the Campus has a variety of capabilities and plans to mitigate any adverse effects. The Campus has a round-the-clock police department and an on-call hazardous materials emergency response team. The Campus also maintains both a general emergency response plan/emergency operations center and a hazardous materials emergency response plan. Members of these teams participate in both training and drills. Furthermore, as a backup, our hazardous waste disposal contractor has emergency response capability and can respond to hazardous materials emergencies.

Clean-Up Procedures: In the case of a spill of medical waste, clean up may be done by rinsing or immersion for three minutes using one of the following chemical sanitizers. The concentrations listed below are minimum concentrations; stronger solutions are, of course, more effective.

Chlorine: Commercially available bleach contains about 5% (five percent) hypo-chlorite. A dilution of one part of the commercial product to 49 (forty-nine) parts water produces a solution of approximately 1000 (one thousand) parts per million (equivalent to 0.1% active ingredient)

Dry calcium hypochlorite tablets for pools: (Pulsar Plus Briquettes) will contain approximately 65% (sixty-five percent) available chlorine. A mixture of 1.5 pounds of Pulsar Plus Briquettes to 1 gallon of water will produce a solution of approximately 1000 (one thousand) parts per million available chlorine.

Ammonia: Commercially available ammonia solutions each contain about 5% (five percent) quaternary ammonia. A dilution of one part of the commercial product to 49 (forty-nine) parts water produces a solution of approximately 1000 (one thousand) parts per million (equivalent to 0.1% active ingredient) Note: Chlorine (bleach) and ammonia should never be mixed together.

Phenolic solutions of 500 parts per million (0.05%) of the active agent.

Iodoform solutions of 100 parts per million (0.01%) of the active agent.

Trauma Scene Waste Management Practitioner: “Trauma scene waste management practitioner” means a person who undertakes as a commercial activity the removal of human blood, human body fluids, and other associated residues from the scene of a serious human injury, illness, or death, and who is registered with the department health services